Studies and surveys on why people buy stuff are more plentiful than water. Every other day some research firm is telling us why we consume like locusts for fast like monks. It’s all good and makes for interesting reading, if not entertaining and humorous.
Getting on the program, research firm Lab42 offers its own report as of July 17, 2015. The results from the company’s survey takes a look at innovation, i.e., what it means to consumers, which sectors and brands people consider innovative, and whether innovation motivates them to purchase.
Based on the survey results, Lab42 concludes perception of innovation is hugely important in purchasing decisions. This claim pushes “innovation” into the realm of being subjective. If the consumer, using unique cognitive methods perceives a product to be innovative, whether it actually is innovative or not, there’s a very good chance he or she will purchase it.
Consumers sucking some innovative products.
Next, the survey finds consumers are willing to pay a premium price for innovative goods and services. Since there is no claim to the contrary, this eliminates a qualitative aspect from the consumer thinking or makes an assumption about it. Respectively, this infers that a consumer will buy a product at a steep price because he or she deems it innovative without concern for the overall quality of the device or the consumer assumes high quality based on both the perception of innovation and the high price tag.
The researchers conclude that half of consumers say they have bought a new product without fully understanding what it did or how it worked solely because they thought it was “cool”. That statement could eliminate the concept of innovation because something cool is not always innovative. Just look how things go in and out of popularity. Sometimes old devices and products come back into the mainstream and are perceived as being new and innovative. For example, turntables and vinyl recordings and whoopee cushions. Be careful where you sit when listening to those LP records.
Overall, the study finds consumers care that a company is innovative with 84% of respondents saying it is somewhat or very important that the company they buy from is innovative. For more information about Lab42 and its deeds, visit http://lab42.com ~MD